NaiaScripts is a documentation tool that can be used to document, analyze and control changes to any process.  It is especially useful in mapping processes to software and IT functions, but it could be used for practically any controlled documentation.

The term "controlled" is very important.  Free-form-documentation in applications such as Word quickly become difficult to manage and version.  There is a growing number of version control tools to help you get a handle on this but in the end it's still data that is "trapped" in the word document.  It will require quite a bit of work to reuse and extend that data.  NaiaScripts, however, puts each piece of data (defined by the user) into a relational database, tags it with an ID and opens up all the advantages of database management to the documentation effort.   These advantages include: 

• Ease of Maintenance: front end applications can interface with the data to easily copy and extend the original entries.
• Process Reorganization: Complex reorganization of the script can easily be accomplished. This could become very tedious and error prone in a Word document.
• Hierarchical Relationships: Any script entry can be linked to another script entry in a Parent/Child relationship. This allows a host of advantages: the complex reorganization already mentioned; encapsulation of individual sub-processes for management by different teams; etc.
• Reuse of data: Information entered can be provided in a variety of ways - Script reports, user manuals, web pages, application help files, and, of course, Word Documents.

Once the process is documented with NaiaScripts, it can be laid out and analyzed.  Individual steps can be targeted for improvement without their development affecting the rest of the process in an uncontrolled way.   Consider the following example:

Acme Company is a 30 year old distribution company with 10 branches.  The founder's grandson is stepping in as the General Manager of the company and is interested in updating the processes used by the company, some of which have never been changed.  He asks his Accounts Payable clerk how customer orders at the branch locations are turned into invoices.  She doesn't know for sure; her Accounting program has "unapproved" invoices queued up for her to review, approve and process for payment..  Asking around it becomes evident that no one REALLY knows the entire process.  The company is dependent on the fact that good people have been doing the same job for years. 

A Naia analyst conducts interviews and provides the following script: 

1. Customer orders are taken at the branch counter by hand and fulfilled.  Once fulfilled, the hand written order is given to a clerk who hand keys it into the 15 year old Point Of Sale system.
2. At the end of the day, the manager of each branch uses the Export function of the Point of Sale to create a spreadsheet showing the day's orders.  This is emailed to the inventory manager at the main branch. 
3. At times the delivery truck returns with some items that are refused by the customer for a variety of reasons.  This happens at the end of the day.  The shipping forms are delivered to the clerk who updates the hand written reports.  The Point Of Sale is not updated because this has caused problems in the past with the reconciling of Inventory reports.  Usually the Inventory Manager is notified via a telephone call.
4. Daily the Inventory Manager imports the spreadsheet into his version of the Point Of Sale to produce reports showing the affect of sales on inventory.  Manual spreadsheets are kept to document and control purchasing.
5. Once a week the "IT guy" keys the hand written orders into an EDI file that is recognized by the Accounting software.  Once keyed, the files are imported through the accounting program into "unapproved" invoices.
6. These unapproved invoices are reviewed by the Accounts Payable clerk then processed to send out to customers.

Once this entire process is laid out for the new General Manager some "low hanging fruit" for immediate improvement becomes apparent.  A program can be written to translate the emailed spreadsheet into the EDI format needed by Accounting.  This change is isolated to steps 4 and 5 and do not disrupt the rest of the business.  After this small tweak is made, the IT guy just has to review the automatically imported EDI files for the handwritten changes based on Returns. 

Once this small tweak is made the script is modified to reflect the new process and the next screw turn can be identified.  It is almost immediately decided that all returns will be faxed the day of the return.  Because of these two changes, invoices are now going out every day, with a two day delay between order taking and invoice mailing.  Eventually the entire process can be automated with new software.  Each change is tied to a Script ID and can be tracked.  ROIs can be determined based on each change.

This is a very generalized example, obviously, but it demonstrates the power of controlled documentation and analysis.  What became apparent when looking at the script is that the process was not technology-centric but rather people-centric.   These people use technology to facilitate the process but the technology is not the process in and of itself.  Controlling ways an organization uses technology is a key component in turning a company from Good to Great.

Another key benefit of the script is that you can use it to "program the humans".  A well documented script, written by a stake-holder in  the process, can then be turned over to a smaller or less top-heavy team to accomplish the same results a larger or more skilled team used to be required for.

Continuing our previous example:

The Naia analyst however provides a detailed NaiaScript on exactly how to perform this operation.  This script is much more detailed than the one above.  It provides keystroke by keystroke instructions that enable the less experienced person at Acme to effectively perform a daily data conversion.

Add to these benefits the fact that NaiaScripts is very easy to use and inexpensive and the reasons that Naia champions this tools are apparent.